Bailey Ober has developed a put-away changeup, and his high release point makes his fastball faster. But maybe best of all, he knows how to pitch with very little run support.
That came in handy on Saturday, when after a one-day run-scoring jubilee, the Twins' hitting problems returned. Ober took it in stride, giving up only two singles over seven innings and pitched the Twins to a 1-0 victory over the Orioles at Camden Yards.
"That was a 'wow' performance by Bailey," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of the righthander, who has started both of the Twins' 1-0 victories this season. "It's the best I've ever seen him throw, and he's thrown so many good games for us. He was so locked in."
Good thing, too, because the Twins followed up their eight-run outburst in the series opener with another frustrating exercise in left-on-base. The Twins collected seven hits, but six of them were singles and none of them advanced a runner to third base.
The lone exception: A high, hanging full-count slider in the fourth inning by Baltimore righthander Kyle Bradish. Joey Gallo got the barrel of his bat on it and launched it to the back of the seats in right-center field, his team-leading 15th home run and fourth of this weeklong road trip.
Just as Gallo, who until this trip had endured a dismal homer-free month, predicted before departing Target Field. Remember?
"I wasn't that confident, but I've got to say I am," Gallo admitted. "You're going to go through patches where you don't hit home runs, and then you're going to hit four or five in a stretch." And getting hot again? "It helps me sleep at night," he said with a laugh.
But that was it for the Twins, who went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position in a tight, well-played game that featured a handful of attention-getting defensive plays.
One of them was made by Baltimore's Adley Rutschman, who became the first catcher in nearly eight weeks to throw out a Twins base-stealer. He caught Michael A. Taylor at second base by a fraction of a second, halting the Twins' franchise-record streak of 29 consecutive successful stolen bases since May 13.
The biggest play, though, came in the ninth inning, and may have saved the Twins' victory. After Rutschman beat out an infield single against closer Jhoan Duran, and replay determined that pinch runner Jorge Mateo had stolen second, overturning the original out call, the Orioles had an actual scoring threat, their only one of the day.
It didn't last, thanks to Max Kepler. The veteran outfielder made a full-speed sliding catch of Anthony Santander's long fly ball along the right-field foul line.
"That was one of the sweetest plays in right field I've ever seen. I didn't think he had a shot at the ball," Baldelli told reporters in Baltimore. "I was hoping the ball would go foul off the bat. It would have been really close, right down the line. Then [Kepler] came from out of sight — I didn't know where he came from. He was flying."
BOXSCORE: Twins 1, Baltimore 0
Duran then retired Ryan O'Hearn to secure his 12th save, and the Twins had their first back-to-back victories in more than a week, reaching .500 again at 42-42. Ober, too, is at .500 — his career record is now 10-10, and 5-4 this season even though the Twins have scored two or fewer runs in seven of his 13 starts.
Ober dominated the Orioles with a four-pitch mix, but focused on his fastball and split-finger changeup, the latter pitch producing five swing-and-misses.
"We talk about guys being sharp and having good outings," Baldelli marveled. "He was almost perfect with what he wanted to do today."
The Star Tribune did not send the writer of this article to the game. This was written using a broadcast, interviews and other material.
